Ever After
by LadyRhiyana
Summary: Two ficlets: Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru, adrift in the modern world. [And one omake.]
1. Those Who Survive

**Those who survive  
****Summary: **500 years have passed, and the world has changed beyond recognition. An AU drabble, in which Inuyasha comes through the well to the future rather than Kagome going into the past. Plus a lighter-hearted omake.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inuyasha, any of the canon characters or concepts.

* * *

500 long years have passed, and the world has changed beyond all recognition. Inuyasha, who came through the well less than a year ago, had no difficulty adapting; Sesshoumaru, though, is trapped in time and tradition like a fly trapped in amber, a great, terrible stillness surrounding him and permeating the silent halls of his ancient fortress. Inuyasha hates it, hates the sound of his echoing footfalls and the way even the dust motes hang suspended in the golden light, waiting for the rapid, dancing footsteps and giggling chatter of a girl who has long since gone to her rest.

Sesshoumaru remains completely still as he approaches, not the slightest motion disturbing his ancient grace and frozen stillness; if Inuyasha didn't know better, he would check for dust on those heavy silken robes, cobwebs tangled in the thick fur.

"Hanyou," Sesshoumaru drawls, slow and deep, "what do you want here?"

Sesshoumaru still speaks in the old, formal court Japanese. Still, in his heart, the reckless, angry youth of 500 years and 1 year ago, Inuyasha is tempted to reply in the worst type of slang; he refrains nobly, merely answering as politely as he can stomach.

"I came to tell you Kagome is pregnant," he says.

Sesshoumaru lifts his head, fixes him with those ancient, feral golden eyes and Inuyasha freezes, crushed by the weight of centuries and the power of his brother's youki.

"Have you come to seek my congratulations and good wishes?"

"No, I merely wished to inform you as –" he almost chokes on the words – "you are the head of my family."

Sesshoumaru closes his eyes, freeing Inuyasha from his gaze. "And you have done so. If you wish it, I will congratulate you. Now – go." Sesshoumaru resumes his former pose, back to his frozen stillness, and the audience is over.

* * *

Omake

* * *

Inuyasha gets the hell out of there as quickly as he can, but not quickly enough to avoid Takezo, Sesshoumaru's pure-blooded son and heir: vicious, insufferably arrogant, bristling with power enough to back up every bit of his arrogance. Dressed in an impeccably tailored suit, his otherworldly colouring and skin markings magically disguised, he played the part of a modern human to the hilt – the powerful CEO of WestCorp, the monolithic zaibatsu that he had formed of Sesshoumaru's holdings after the Meiji Restoration and managed to hold onto, even after the war. And yet, for all Takezo's power and influence, among the youkai it is still, unquestionably, Sesshoumaru who rules –

Inuyasha wonders if that last part rankles.

"Uncle," Takezo says, with all the irony of a 500 year old nephew to a 20 year old uncle. "Allow me to congratulate you." Even Sesshoumaru's flat congratulations were more sincere. "Another injection of human blood into our bloodline. Grandfather would be so proud."

"And how is Jun?" Inuyasha asks pleasantly, smirking as Takezo's eyes narrow.

For all that the relationship between Sesshoumaru's full blooded heir and the hanyou son of his human mistress is not nearly as bitter – or as bloody – as that of Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha (Sesshoumaru had been around a lot more than the Inutaisho, and Jun was not nearly as bitter as Inuyasha, his childhood a lot happier) there was still an element of – mostly – good natured rivalry. Takezo was fierce, ruthless, ambitious and very aware of his position; Jun was easy going, good natured, a joyous youth with all of his mother's gentle cheer, and – almost – none of his father's intensity.

Jun was a scribe, a scholar, a poet, a calligrapher, an artist, and lately a musician.

"Jun is well," Takezo says shortly. "He is into jazz this year. No doubt you will find him in Tokyo, in one of the clubs. The humans are fascinated by his white hair."


	2. Ever After

**Ever After  
****Summary: **Inuyasha can no longer see the stars over Tokyo. Sesshoumaru is a creature entirely displaced.

* * *

**1. **

Inuyasha can no longer see the stars over Tokyo.

Multi-coloured lights illuminate the sky until all he can see is a blurring haze, and the constellations, life-long companions, are entirely obscured by the monstrous City and its twenty million inhabitants. More than five hundred years have passed since Kagome first came through the well; the seasons turned and turned again, years becoming decades and then centuries, until here he stands, out of time and out of place.

He had never thought to survive so long, or to find himself so impossibly far from home. But Inuyasha has always been an outcast, a misfit; he has learned to adapt and change. He has made some sort of life for himself – here in this modern world where youkai are no more than children's tales, and hair dye and coloured contacts cover a multitude of sins.

* * *

**2.**

In the pumping neon heart of Tokyo, fireworks bloom to mark the beginning of a new year. Sesshoumaru watches, crouched against the sky-line, his white and crimson robes spread about him.

He is a creature entirely displaced. Centuries have come and gone, leaving him a poor shadow of what he once was, but even so he is still Sesshoumaru; he refuses to use concealment spells, refuses to pander to mortal fears and the cowardice of the youkai 'council'.

In the distance, the fireworks explode in flowers of brilliant blue, green and crimson. His eyes narrow against the cascade of brightly coloured sparks: the light catches them, and they glow unashamed, inhuman amber.

* * *

**3.**

The wind shifts, carrying the traces of a long-familiar scent. Inuyasha's nose twitches: it has been at least five years since Inuyasha last felt his brother's presence. Their enmity had long since burned itself to ashes; hatred and ambition died in Sesshoumaru long ago, leaving nothing but apathy.

He is a shadow of his former self, now, and Inuyasha cannot bear to see it.

Instinct pricks at him; he lifts his head to see the silent, pensive creature who was once Sesshoumaru of the West, alternately illuminated by the brilliant fireworks and plunged into shadow. Their eyes meet, a long, timeless moment, inhuman amber and Inuyasha's human-brown contact-lenses. With a last, triumphant barrage, the sky bursts into brilliant radiance, bright enough to send blurred afterimages dancing across Inuyasha's vision. He blinks rapidly, shaking his head to clear it, and when he looks up again, Sesshoumaru is –

Gone.


End file.
